Valencian Nationalist Bloc
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| Valencian Nationalist Bloc Bloc Nacionalista Valencià |
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| Leader | Enric Morera |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 1999 |
| Headquarters | Sant Jacint 28, 46006 Valencia |
| Ideology | Valencianism, Progressivism |
| International affiliation | None |
| European affiliation | None |
| European Parliament Group | None |
| Website | |
| www.bloc.ws | |
The Valencian Nationalist Bloc (Bloc Nacionalista Valencià, BLOC or BNV) is a nationalist party in the Valencian Community, Spain.
The BLOC's main aim is, as stated in their guidelines, "to achieve full national sovereignty for the Valencian people, legally declared by a Valencian sovereign Constitution which allows the possibility of association with the countries which share the same language, history and culture" [4].
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[edit] History
The BNV was formed in 1998 as a result of the federation of several parties in a coalition formed for the regional elections in 1995. That group of parties was headed by Unitat del Poble Valencià (UPV, founded in 1982) which is the main predecessor of the current BLOC, together with other smaller parties, often locally based, such as the Valencian Nationalist Party (1990) or Alcoi Nationalists (1994).
The BLOC has historically defined itself as a left-wing party. This position shifted to a centrist or center-left position in the late nineties, as a part of a strategy to appeal a broader audience.
Then, for the 2007 Spanish regional elections to the autonomous Parliaments, the BLOC returned to a more left wing agenda as it ran in coalition with EUPV, the Valencian branch of Izquierda Unida, a coalition whose main member is the Spanish Communist Party PCE). This coalition operated under the name of Compromís pel País Valencià. Compromís' results (seven seats) did not achieve their goal of growing and forming a front alongside the PSOE to oust the Partido Popular from the regional government, but allowed BLOC to enter the autonomous Parliament (two seats) and secured EUPV representation as well (the remainder 5 seats). For the 2008 General election Bloc ran in coalition with other left wing and regional parties. However despite the fact that the list was headed by a sitting deputy, Isaura Navarro, their vote fell relative to 2004.
[edit] Representation
The BNV only runs elections held in the Valencian Community. Including its Unitat del Poble Valencià former era, it has historically polled at around 4% of the votes in elections for the Valencian regional parliament, with significantly lower figures when running at Spanish general elections in Valencia.
BLOC obtained its best result to date in the 2003 regional elections, with a 4.77%[1], just short of the 5% threshold to gain representation by itself.
This 5% electoral threshold required for a list to enter the Valencian Parliament has been traditionally an issue in Valencian politics due to the important consequences in terms of political alliances which would result if it was lowered to 3% (the most common threshold in Spanish regional Parliaments). If the threshold was thus lowered, BLOC would most likely enter the Parliament by itself, which, if the results permitted, could facilitate a big coalition PSOE-BLOC-EUPV to oust the Partido Popular (PP) from the Valencian regional government. Currently, the PP is enjoying its fourth consecutive absolute majority in this Parliament and claims the Valencian Community as one of its strongholds.
[edit] Coalitions
This said, BLOC has been represented at the Valencian parliament twice, by means of a coalition with the Valencian branch of United Left.
Their first participation in this coalition was in 1987, under BLOC's "Unitat del Poble Valencià" (UPV) former name[2]. According to the coalition pact, UPV was allotted two out of the six MPs. Internal tensions within the coalition and, especially, within the UPV, led to its disbanding. These events were the start of the process which led to the demise of UPV and its refoundation as BLOC.
Still, both parties (under new names, BLOC for UPV and Esquerra Unida del País Valencià, EUPV, for United Left) agreed to repeat their coalition for the 2007 regional elections, in order to secure if only joint representation, something which was at stake if they participated by themselves. This renewed coalition, called Compromís pel País Valencià, indeed achieved representation with 7 MPs, two of which corresponded to BLOC according to the coalition pact rules. Internal disent plagued again the coalition, this time predating especially on its EUPV component, which has split since[3].
[edit] At municipalities
Support for the BLOC is higher at the local level, with 299 councilors and 21 mayors. Thus, it is the distant third major Valencian political party at the municipal level, far from the major parties, PP and PSPV-PSOE. The party is nearly absent in a number of areas in the Valencian Community (virtually all of those comarcas which are Spanish speaking only) while it is a major political agent in others, namely in its historic stronghold at the contiguous area formed by the northern most part of Alicante province and the southern most part of Valencia province.
[edit] International projection
The BNV joined the GalEusCa coalition in the 2004 European Parliament election, with other nationalist parties from the Spanish state such as the Basque Nationalist Party, the Catalan Convergence and Union, the Galician Nationalist Bloc, and the Mallorcan Socialist Party. GalEusCa got 2 seats, neither of them for the BNV.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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